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October 6, 2011

Lucky You!!! I went to Commisso's (Niagara Falls, Ontario) for the first time and amazingly, I found both of these products on their shelf! Who knew??The best part is that their regular price on Persil is $20 less than I've been paying at the appliance dealers AND if you use Commisso's store card for discount, (I knocked 3 people down running to the service counter to get one) you get a further $4 off. The Somat3 is about $2 less than I pay.

http://www.commissosfreshfoods.com/

LET'S 'DISH' ABOUT 'DIRTY LAUNDRY' ~ No, not that kindIMPORTANT NOTE:
Without sounding too much like an advertisement for the products I'm about to recommend, you should know that I am not getting an endorsement fee of any kind. I've just had such great success with them that I want to share them with you. I also strongly suggest that you do your own research on the products, as there will no doubt be questions around the issues of the environment and your 'high efficiency' machines (HE). Please feel free to read what I say and then explore and experiment for yourself.

I want to share some product information with you. If you have ever asked the following questions, I believe I can help.

What will prevent and/or remove the etching and other marks on drinking glasses caused by my dishwasher?

How can I remove the dull grey from my whites?

Dishwasher Soap
I have a top of the line European dishwasher, I've tried all of the dishwashing products on the market, top to bottom; from gels to powders to tabs. And still, they'd come out a mess, I'd eventually have to replace them because they got worse and worse. You cannot have a guest drink from a glass that looks like this. Luckily, my glasses are very inexpensive, (Ikea for about .79 cents each) so I wasn't spending a fortune, but still. I want my glasses to come out of that machine, near perfect, but each time I opened that door to the dishwasher, I would hold my breath. I was so tired of having to hand wash them in an effort to make them presentable. I also tried soaking them in various recommended solutions, like vinegar, but nothing helped.

Laundry Soap
Have you tried absolutely everything to eliminate the dull grey look that your white clothes eventually succumb to? Are you like me and love your white things to be really white? I seemed to be replacing my white tee-shirts, blouses, linen napkins, and unmentionables way too often because the were just that dull and grey.

Change Your Life
Not really. Well, maybe a little. All I know is that a small part of me gets a bit giddy as I'm pulling my sparkling whites from the washed my practically mark free glasses from the dishwasher. Plus, there's a trickle down effect that should be mentioned. I save money because I don't have to replace these items as often.

Martha Knows These Things..

Laundry Whites

One evening as I was listening to Martha Stewart's satellite radio programme in the car, she had a caller asking her how to get the grey out of her white clothes. Martha happily (I like to think she was happy) replied without hesitating, that she had the answer and she had sworn by this product for many years. I leaned in and turned up the volume.

"I use Persil' laundry soap for getting the grey out of whites." (I'm paraphrasing, but there it was - the answer we are all looking for!).

More recently, I was watching The Marilyn Show (Marilyn Dennis on CTV) and they were doing the segment where they ask a professional butler questions about manners & etiiquette, housecleaning, bed-making, table setting, laundry, etc. Someone wrote in to ask him how to get the grey out of white clothes. I was so happy, I yelled, "Persil!" at the television. Unfortunately, he didn't reply Persil. He described various methods, using this and that - all things I had tried prior to finding Persil.

Persil & What I Know About It..

It's a German product, manufactured in Europe. It's safe for HE machines, biodegradable and no phosphates - my dealer (uh, not that kind) tells me and many customers who use it, have been using it for decades. One man who was standing at the counter of my local Miele dealer, while I was asking questions about Persil, said that his mother had always used it and has used it all his life, and he was at least middle aged, so it's been around for a long time.

Persil makes one product specifically for whites and one for colours. I use both and could not be happier. It's typically only available at appliance dealers like MIele. A box lasts about 6 months, depending on how much you use and how frequently you do laundry, so the price (approximately $50) is justified. Trust me it's worth it, and if Martha Stewart is using it to get the grey out of her whites, well need I say more?

Somat3 & What I Know About It..

What was up with all auto dishwasher soap? It seemed no matter what I tried, the glassware would come out etched, scratched, marred, yucky. Clean but they looked like I'd picked them up at Good Will. Yes, they're inexpensive (Ikea .79 @) but they're classy and you see them everywhere - magazines, movies, tv. I've been using them for years.

Anyway, I couldn't figure this out and was getting fed up with having to replace all my glasses, cheap or not, every several months or so. My last 2 dishwashers were high-end and my current one is European, very quiet and cleans brilliantly but what about the etching? I've tried the gels, powders, pellets or whatever the hell they're called but to no avail. I cannot serve anyone a glass of filtered or sparkling water in those without feeling obliged to explain the glass is very clean, it's just marked from the dishwasher or soap??

I found the answer to this as well. I went to my local appliance store, where I'd bought all of my appliances, and bought a new box of my precious Persil laundry soap. I was chatting to the sales rep and happened to mention the etching problem on my glasses and got an immediate fix to the problem.

It seems that removing phosphates leaves glassware vulnerable to the harsh lime in our hard water. We haven't bought a water softener yet, so that could make a difference too. I was also told that Europe is decades ahead of North America where environmental issues are concerned, and they are allowing a small percentage of phosphates in their product. I assume that if Canada is letting it into the country, it must meet the environmental, regulatory requirements, right?
I justify using it because I am so careful and responsible in many other areas in regard to the environment. If I can't recycle the glasses that end up in a land fill eventually, then what's the difference?

She gave me 2 sample tabs to try and the results were nothing less than amazing. I opened my dishwasher cautiously, holding my breath, daring to look as I pulled the first glass from the top rack. "OMG! It really works!!" I yelled to Terry murmuring a small, "thank-you" into the ethers.

Every single glass had come out gleaming without a scratch on them. They looked practically brand new. No kidding. I was thrilled. So the product is called Somat3. It has a rinse aid and a special salt function built into the tabs. Somat3 claims that it can even remove dried starch from pasta. You get 30 tabs for approximately $15. If you do 2 loads per week, it will last 15 weeks or just over 3 months. I think that's pretty good for the results you get. You can calculate if it's worth it or not to switch.

From the box: "The integrated rinse aid effectively prevents the formation of water spots and gives your dishes and glasses a sparkling shine. The special substitute salt substances actively bind the lime in the washing water to prevent unwanted deposits on dishes and glasses."

You Decide For Yourself..Check these products for yourself and then if it makes sense then give them a try.